Geography and Infrastructure Dimension on Poverty in Riau Province: Data Panel Approach at the Village Level

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the geographical and infrastructure aspects of poverty in districts and cities in Riau Province, Indonesia. This study used statistical data from 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2014 correspondingly published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Indonesia. There are 1,687 villages collected into cross-sections and time series or pooled data. This study proposed a geographical perspective to identify the poverty level. Based on the model specification tests through the three analyses with the pooled least square (PLS), the study found that the regression of the determinant coefficient (R2) is 0.0492, indicating that the geographical and infrastructure variables can explain 49.2 % of the output percentage variation in poverty levels. The telephone network is a factor that has a significant positive effect on the poverty variable. One variable used, the river as a transportation network, has a significant positive effect, which indicates that the usage of rivers for the purpose of transportation can increase the poverty level in the Riau province of Indonesia.